Published 7:00 pm, Friday, February 21, 2003

At least three gunmen entered the Imam Bargha Mehdi as worshippers were performing evening prayers and sprayed automatic weapons fire, Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikhar Ahmed said. The gunmen had been waiting at a nearby tea shop, according to witnesses.

Mohammed Ali, one of the worshippers, said he saw four gunmen ride up to the mosque on two motorcycles and open fire just after the call for prayer started.

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear. Pakistan has been wracked by religious violence in recent years, most by Sunni Muslim extremist groups that have been targeting minority Shiites.

Most of the deaths have been blamed on a Sunni Muslim extremist group, Sipah-e-Sahabah Pakistan, or SSP, outlawed by the government. A breakaway faction of the SSP, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, also is blamed for attacks on Shiite Muslims and several of its members have been arrested.

The rivalry between the two Islamic sects dates back to the seven century when they had a falling out over who should be the heir to Islam's prophet Mohammed.

In Karachi, at least eight bodies were brought to nearby Jinnah Hospital, Dr. Kalim Ahmed told The Associated Press. Ten other people were injured. Police said about 25 people were believed to be inside the mosque at the time of the shooting.

Dozens of relatives and friends of the victims gathered outside the hospital, many crying and beating their chests in anguish. Men who had carried some of the victims stood around, their clothing covered in blood.

Karachi has been the site of a series of violent attacks, many against Westerners and minority Christians, in recent months.

A June 14 car bombing outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi killed 12 people and injured 50. A May 8 suicide bombing outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi killed 11 French engineers and three other people, including the bomber.

In Pakistan, a small, but violent group of extremist Sunni Muslims revile Shiites as non-Muslims. Most of Pakistan's 140 million people are Sunni Muslims who have no quarrel with their Shiite brethren. The violence has been blamed by extremist groups banned last year by the government in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.